Flower Pollen Snow
by Guilty Bird
Summary: [Slice of Life] A world in which Danzō sacrificed himself. A world in which Naruto and Sasuke grew up with their families, and in which Sakura never knew her parents. People live as they should have lived and lose what they should have never lost, in a world of flowers that fall like snow.
1. True Shinobi

**Flower Pollen Snow**

Chapter 1: "True Shinobi"

* * *

_Kumogakure, First Shinobi World War..._

In the dark forest clearing, the gathered shinobi knelt grimly together in a tight circle. They all wore the Konoha forehead protector and were dressed in the dark metal plate war armor of their time.

"We're surrounded..." said a tall man with white, shaggy hair. He wore a happuri engraved with the Konoha emblem. Laying two fingers to the forest floor, he closed his eyes in a look of extreme concentration. "There's twenty of them. And from the way they're tracking us, I'd say they're Kumogakure...master bounty hunters."

"There's only seven of us including Nidaime-sama," said a younger bespectacled man. "...we're done for..."

"They don't know our exact location yet!" protested a woman with a top bun. "We should lie in wait for them and take them by surprise. We could escape!"

"That won't work..." said the shinobi beside her. "Someone will have to lure them away..."

"A decoy?" said a round-faced shinobi in a dry voice. "Whoever it is won't survive..."

Tobirama Senju, the Nidaime Hokage, did not respond. He remained seated in front of his hand-picked team, unmoving; his gaze looked faraway. A tense silence settled over the remaining Konoha ninja, each one desperately questioning their will to live.

Suddenly, a young man with a scar across his chin who had not spoken a single word up to that point broke the silence.

"I'll do it," he said, his voice almost imperceptibly slipping on the last word. His companions looked at him in undisguised shock.

"Shimura..."

"Danzō...you..."

"Danzō," a youth with dark spiky hair said hesitantly. He put his hand on his childhood friend's shoulder. "Are you seri-"

"Hiruzen. My father and grandfather died as ninjas in battle," said Danzō, closing his eyes. His trembling had stopped. "Self-sacrifice is a ninja's duty."

"No, Danzō," said Tobirama. "I will be the decoy. You all are the bright young flames who must protect the village."

"Nidaime-sama, please. You are the Hokage," said Danzō, shaking his head. Gently removing Hiruzen's hand from his shoulder, he stood up. "The village needs you now. I have made peace already...and I will fight proudly for my comrades."

He turned around, facing the impenetrable darkness of the woods beyond them. For a brief moment, a tendril of fear wrapped itself around his heart as he thought of the eternal night that lay before him.

"Danzō..." Hiruzen's voice cracked. "You've been a good friend."

"Danzō, you are...a true shinobi of Konoha," said Tobirama quietly.

He nodded only once to show he had heard. Then, with his head held high, Danzō Shimura walked step by step towards certain death.

* * *

**A/N: **Yes, yes. It's another "what if Naruto's parents lived?" kind of premise. Hopefully my take on it will have something different to offer.


	2. Final Gift

**Flower Pollen Snow**

Chapter 2: "Final Gift"

* * *

_Kusagakure, Third Shinobi World War..._

When the dust clouds had cleared, the landscape had completely changed. Massive boulders jutted out from deep cracks that ran along the ground.

"Are you okay?" a weak voice could be heard from beneath one of the boulders. "Rin...Kakashi..."

On the ground, a dazed looking silver-haired youth and a girl with purple bandages across her face flinched at the sound. Turning their heads to look at their friend, they froze in shock.

"Obito!" the boy screamed, immediately clambering to his feet. He staggered over to the boulder which pinned down his friend, and against all reason, began pushing against it. "Shit!"

"That's enough...it's okay, Kakashi..." the trapped boy coughed. "It looks like it's over for me...the right side of my body is almost smashed...there's no feeling in it..."

Kakashi panted heavily, looking around wildly for something he could do.

"No...this...why..." the girl began to sob. Obito coughed, and thick red blood spurted out.

"Dammit!" Kakashi fell on his knees and furiously pounded the ground with his fists. "If I'd just gone along with you from the beginning and went to rescue Rin...something like this wouldn't have happened! What kind of commander...what kind of jōnin...?!"

"...hey...no...forget it," croaked Obito. "I'm the only one who didn't give you a present...at your jōnin celebration...right, Kakashi?" Wordlessly, Kakashi stared in confusion at his teammate. "I was thinking about...what would be good...and I've just come up with it now. Don't worry, it won't be useless baggage...it'll be my sharingan."

Kakashi froze, his mind whirling as it tried to make meaning of the implications.

"The people in the village...what they must have been saying...that you're a great jōnin. That's how I feel...so take it," Obito slowly turned his gaze towards Rin, who was wiping away her tears. "Rin...with your medical jutsu, please take out my sharingan and implant it into Kakashi's left eye..." Rin nodded, determination coloring her dark eyes.

"Kakashi, come here so we can get started," she said firmly. His face twisting, Kakashi didn't move as he looking down at the ground.

"I'm already going to die..." said Obito, sensing his friend's inner turmoil. "But I can become your eye...and I'll help you all live on..."

Kakashi closed his eye in thought for a moment. When he opened it again, his gaze was clear and focused, and he accepted his friend's final gift.

* * *

With an ear-splitting boom, smaller pieces of the caved in boulders exploded away.

A dark-toned Iwa-nin who'd been waiting for his teammates leaped up in surprise. Realizing it was one of the young Konoha ninja he had trapped, he relaxed.

"You're a stubborn one aren't you? I can' believe you're still alive," the man said tauntingly. Noticing that tears were running down one side of the boy's face, his grin widened. "You're still a brat, though. Shinobi don't cry...come on over, crybaby, I'll break you apart!"

The silver-haired boy opened his left eye, and the man's grin faded, noticing with some anxiety that something about the boy looked off. The boy turned around to look down at the hole, and for a moment, seemed to be listening to something. Then, he raised a kunai and without any further warning, threw it through the air, leaping after it towards the waiting Iwa-nin.

Darting under the kunai, the Iwa-nin growled, impressed against his will by the boy's speed and power. Jumping back, they raced towards each other once more, knowing that the first one to strike would be the winner. With a crackling sound, an electric blue ball of energy began to glow around the boy's hand.

* * *

Holding Obito's hand in her own, Rin looked anxiously out at the opening of the pit. The sounds of fighting had ceased, and the drawn out silence was making her heart palpitate. There was a thudding sound, and slowly, the Iwa-nin's glaring face rose up to peer at her. In shock, Rin began to get up.

"Re...lax...Rin..." Obito's voice had grown even fainter.

The foreign ninja's body slid away and a worn-down Kakashi clambered up, panting heavily. Obito's sharingan shone red on his left, distinctive from his own black iris on the right.

"...Kakashi...take...take Rin...hurry...get out...of here...the enemy...reinfo...rcements...are coming...for sure..."

"Obito..." Rin looked tremulously down at her teammate. With the last of his strength, Obito pushed her hand away.

"It's...alright...go!"

Rin hesitated, but Kakashi held his hand down toward her. She looked back at the entrapped boy.

"Kakashi, I'll take it from here," said a familiar voice quietly behind them.

Kakashi's eyes widened. Spinning around, he just barely managed to catch something yellow flash around the pile of boulders in a circle. The six Iwa-nin who had just emerged from the earth all fell together as one, a thin line of red on all of their necks. They were dead before they hit the ground.

A blonde man of medium height stepped away from the bodies. He held in his hand the kunai Kakashi had thrown at the Iwa-nin.

"Sensei!" Kakashi said in astonishment. "How?!"

"The mark on this kunai is a jutsu type that alerts me when it flies," Minato explained, holding up the kunai with the tell-tale black characters. Stepping past Kakashi, he jumped down into the pit and knelt by his student's still body.

"Sensei," Rin cried out in relief, her heart lightening at the sight of their sensei. "Obito...he's..."

With a single glance, Minato's face grew grim. He could tell that it was already too late. Gently putting a hand over his student's slack hand, he bowed his head.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to come back in time...Obito..."

By now, Obito was too far gone to respond. But as if sensing that his friends were safe, his face had relaxed into a slight smile.

Quietly, the three Konoha ninja waited by their teammate's side until he died.

They would later go on to destroy the Kannabi bridge, effectively interrupting Iwagakure's line of supply and helping bring the Third Shinobi World War to an end.

* * *

**A/N: **This might be wishful thinking, but anyways, I always thought it was stupid that Minato never told Kakashi what the kunai would do beforehand. Also, reasoning that without Hashirama's cells, Obito would not have been able to survive after so much damage was done to his organs.


	3. I Love You

**Flower Pollen Snow**

Chapter 3: "I Love You"

* * *

_Konohagakure, Year 1 of Yondaime's Ascendancy..._

"Aaarrggh...! It hurts!" Her face splotched and sweaty, the red-haired woman arched back in agony on the birthing table.

"Um, I've never seen Kushina cry out in pain," said the Yondaime weakly. "Is this really okay?" He looked down at his wife anxiously; he had never been so alarmed before in his life, not even when facing a hundred enemies on the battlefield.

"She's fine!" snapped a harried-looking older woman who stood at the base of the bed. "You just stay focused on the Nine Tails' seal!"

"But she's..."

"You're the Yondaime! Get a grip! Most men would have dropped dead from such pain long ago, but women are much stronger!"

Gulping, Minato steadied his hand, which was positioned over the black seal on Kushina's naked belly. Kushina choked back another scream as she felt the Nine Tails begin to writhe once more in its desperate bid to escape.

"Hang in there, Kushina!" Minato said in what he hoped was an encouraging voice. "Come on, Naruto!"

Another pained scream tore itself out of Kushina's throat, as she reared back and pushed.

"The head's out! Just a wee bit more, Kushina!" Biwako encouraged.

"Hang in there, Kushina!" said the nurse. Minato strained as he sensed the Nine Tails thrashing against the seal once more.

"Naruto! Hurry up and come out! You stay in, Nine Tails!" he shouted, closing his eyes to better concentrate.

"Unnh...!" With the last of her strength, as tears streamed down her face, Kushina gave a mighty push.

The cries of a squawking baby filled the dimly-lit room.

"Hot water!" Biwako commanded.

"Yes ma'am!"

"...he's here..." Minato stared, blue eyes wide open, unable to believe the moment had finally arrived. Panting heavily, Kushina angled her head backwards as the elderly woman brought over her son, wrapped in a towel.

"It's a healthy baby boy!" said Biwako with a smile. The wailing baby in her arms had a head covered with his father's blonde hair, with three whisker-like birthmarks on each cheek.

"Haha...!" Minato had also begun to cry. "I'm a father now...!"

"Naruto..." whispered Kushina, gazing at her son's face for the first time. "We finally meet..."

"Alright, Kushina," said Minato, wiping away his tears and snapping back into position. "It's rough having just given birth...but we need to completely suppress Nine Tails again."

"Yeah..." Kushina agreed, reluctantly tearing her gaze away from Naruto.

* * *

Minato gingerly laid Kushina down on the bed as she held Naruto. She was still weak from the combined strain of giving birth and suppressing the Nine Tails, but both ordeals were now over. The Nine Tails' seal had been completely restored once more inside her.

"Naruto..." she said, glowing with joy as she gently kissed the baby's forehead. Although his face was still puffy from crying, Naruto had calmed down and was now sleeping. Holding her head close to his frame, she could hear his tiny heart rapidly beating.

"Naruto's got my hair," said Minato giddily, looking down at his family warmly.

"He's got my nose and mouth though," said Kushina. A sudden thought struck her, and she bit her lip. "Hopefully he has your temperament."

"I'll love him no matter what," said Minato reassuringly. Kushina turned her head to return his smile, before returning her gaze to Naruto. Oblivious to the world around him, he continued to quietly sleep, his face tucked against his tiny curled up fists.

"We're going to be so happy together," she said softly. "I love you, Naruto."

* * *

**A/N: ***wipes eyes* Sometimes, cheesy scenes are necessary. My favorite family in anime gets to welcome their son to the world in peace.


	4. Carnations

**Flower Pollen Snow**

Chapter 4: "Carnations"

* * *

_Konohagakure, Year 3 of Yondaime's Ascendancy..._

With grim expressions on their faces, the Yondaime and several councilmen sat seated around the table. Behind each chair, a masked ANBU member stood in stiff anticipation.

"I've called you together to update you on the current situation," said the Yondaime, clasping his hands together. "Our scouts returned this evening with the bodies of Team Haruno. All members were found dead near the border, and several reports of Iwa-nin sightings around the area have come in as well."

Immediately, uneasy murmuring erupted among the councilmen. A silver-haired ANBU member standing behind the Yondaime shifted his weight.

"Do we know for sure that it was Iwa-nin that killed them?" demanded an elderly bespectacled man.

"We have not yet managed to contact the Tsuchikage as of yet," said the Yondaime, looking troubled. "I have just dispatched a team of ANBU to Iwagakure to inquire about this."

"We can't go to war with Iwagakure," said an elderly woman who wore her hair pulled back in a bun. "Our forces are stretched thin as it is by Kumogakure."

"Don't tell me the Kumo and the Iwa are joining forces?" said another woman tremulously. "With Kumo's economic resources and Iwa's military might...we would be crushed!"

"Don't be ridiculous," said a sharp-faced man, waving his hand dismissively. "Why would Iwa wage war against us? We just signed a peace treaty with them."

"Not to mention they're currently caught up in that nasty business at Yosuga Pass with Kiri at the moment..."

"That just goes to show that the Iwa are not to be trusted!"

"We need to strike the Iwa now, while the iron is hot!" A hot-headed man slammed his fist down on the table.

"Are you insane?" the elderly woman hissed. "As weakened as we are by the conflict with Kumo, they'd crush us."

"Then what do you suggest we do? Surely you're not thinking of surrendering?"

"Of course not – "

"We need to disrupt their alliance – "

"We don't even – "

"This is no time to panic." A stern-faced man with black hair evenly folded his arms across his chest, silencing the scattered arguments. The other members warily regarded the crest of the police force on the man's shoulders.

"Yes, everyone, please calm down." The Yondaime pushed himself up. "As of now, we do not have nearly enough information to act on anything, and furthermore, the autopsy report has concluded that the bodies were _not_ killed by Iwa techniques. This may very well be a staged attempt of Kumo to scare us into action against Iwa. For now, we will continue under the possibility that this is a misunderstanding."

"Your lack of action could cost us the war," grumbled a man.

"As your Hokage then, I shall take full responsibility," said the Yondaime, silencing the man with a look. "It is getting late, so until we receive further intel, this meeting is adjourned."

Worry clouding their countenances, the council members stood up and silently filed out of the room. Their ANBU counterparts followed them, sticking to the heels of their feet like shadows. The silver-haired one paused for a second to look at the motionless Hokage, before leaving the room.

After several minutes, the Hokage suddenly disappeared.

* * *

Kushina cooed as she held a spoon of chilled applesauce to her one-year-old's mouth. With a happy gurgling sound, Naruto slurped at the spoon messily. Kushina laughed as half of it end up on his cheek, and with a soft cloth, she wiped it clean.

"Mama!" Naruto pointed at her with his stubby fingers, and with a look of delight spreading across her face, she swept him up in her arms.

"Yes, Naruto," said Kushina, kissing him on his cheek. "I'm your mama!"

"Mama!" Naruto repeated gleefully, clapping his small hands together. "Mama!" He paused, and cocked his head thoughtfully. Then, pointing at something behind Kushina, he said questioningly, "Dada?"

With a hand holding Naruto protectively in place, Kushina whirled around. Minato stood at the door with an unreadable look on his face. He was still in his Hokage haori, and was holding something behind him.

"Welcome home Minato!" Kushina said with a wide smile. "Did you hear him? Naruto just said 'mama'!"

"He also said 'dada,'" said Minato, the edges of his mouth curling up into a slight smile.

"Our son's going to be one smart boy." Kushina beamed at Naruto, who gurgled happily. She gestured towards the kitchen, from which emanated a deliciously warm smell. "Sit down Minato, I prepared your favorite udon noodles for dinner."

"Great," said Minato, trying to sound enthusiastic. Noticing that something was off, Kushina's smile slowly faded.

"What's wrong Minato?"

"...trouble with the war," he said hesitantly. "And...the Harunos are dead." Kushina's eyes widened, and her free hand leaped to her mouth.

"Oh no...that's terrible. Didn't they have a daughter around Naruto's age?"

"Yes..." Lowering his gaze to his son, Minato's eyes softened. Feeling his father's gaze, Naruto turned around and began squirming in his mother's arms.

"Dada!" he squawked, reaching for his father. Kushina shifted her hold to pass him over, but paused when she noticed something.

"What's that you're holding?" she asked, craning her head curiously. Minato hesitated, and then slowly pulled out his hand to reveal a bouquet of red carnations.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he said, holding it out to her. "I'm sorry I couldn't take you out on a date."

With a slight blush, Kushina passed Naruto to his father, and took the carnations. Closing her eyes, she held it to her face, taking in the delicious vanilla fragrance. Then, opening her eyes, she looked up at Minato.

"I'm just happy you're here," she said sincerely. Raising herself up on tiptoe, she kissed Minato on the cheek. When she pulled back, he paused – and then surging forward, he gently pulled her warm body towards his, pressing his lips to hers.

"Mama!" Naruto gurgled happily from between them. "Dada!"

Separating with both of their faces tinged red, Minato and Kushina wordlessly smiled at each other, and then down at their son.

And for just that minute of serenity, they reveled in each other's company, the raging war a faraway thought.

* * *

**A/N: **I've adjusted some of the years for some of the mentioned conflicts...and yeah. Happy Valentine's Day.


End file.
